


A Fine Welcome

by Daughter_of_the_Mountains



Series: Stories That I Hope To Continue One Day [4]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: And Adorable Dwarflings, Baby Dwarves, First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 00:06:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3269321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daughter_of_the_Mountains/pseuds/Daughter_of_the_Mountains
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At some point, the elder brothers (and cousins in Bifur's case) of Thorin's Company had to meet their nadadiths (and namadith, in Thorin's case and little baby cousins in Bifur's case).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Thorin & Frerin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thorin meets his very own nadadith.

Something strange was going on today. Amad wasn't there. She'd begun clutching her swollen belly and making strange sounds right in the middle of one of Grandfather's meetings. Adad had picked him up and whisked him away as Uncle Fundin had carefully, but quickly, escorted Amad from the room.

"How is she?" Adad asked when Uncle Fundin returned.

"Seems the wee lad or lass can't wait to meet us all. Thrór reckons he ought to make him or her attend all the meetings he has for the rest of his reign!"

"I said no such thing," Grandfather retorted, arriving behind Fundin. "You really are a terrible liar!"

Father didn't smile as he usually did. He held Thorin tighter and swung him onto his hip. "My poor Signý! I wish I was the one to bear and give birth. I can't bear to think of her in pain!"

"You were there the first time." Fundin's brother pointed out.

"You know very well what happened and I shan't be repeating it." Adad said curtly.

" _'Bloody hell! What's_ that? _It's all dark!! Oh, Mahal, what is going on?!'_ "

It didn't take a genius to work out that Thorin's birth was his lord uncle's favourite story to hear and tell.

"You overgrown, childish sod," Adad muttered. "You wait 'til you have a child, Gróin. You just _wait!"_

"Having a baby is a terrifying event for all involved." Grandfather said.

 _"Thank_ you, Adad." Adad said. He narrowed his eyes at his smirking cousin. "See? You have the word of a king."

"You're still banned from being there."

"You're not a father, you don't know what it's like. What do you think you'll be like when your wife gives birth?"

"Don't have a wife. But if I did and I got her pregnant, I don't think I would be there, not with what happened last time I was near a pregnant woman."

Adad held Thorin tighter.

"Here,"  Gróin said gently. "Signý is a strong and healthy woman, not ill and tired like my amad was. She'll be just fine. Have you thought of names?"

Adad relaxed. "Not yet, no."

"Isn't it your turn to pick out the name?" Fundin asked.

"Oh, _heck!_ I forgot!"

Fundin chuckled. "While she's bringing your youngest babe into the world, how about we help you find a name?"

* * *

 

The baby didn't give them enough time. They'd been conversing for about an hour before a messenger arrived to tell them that Princess Signý had given Prince Thráin a son. Adad's eyes lit up. 

"A son!"

Thorin was taken back to Amad, who held a bundle of sky-blue wool in her arms. Her soft, brown hair was unkempt and sticking to her forehead and her hazel eyes were red, her face flushed a brilliant pink. Adad beamed at her.

"He came so swiftly." Amad said, lowering the bundle to let Adad see.

Adad smiled at the baby. Gently lifting him up, he kissed his new son on his head and crouched down to let his now eldest see. "Frerin."

" _'Swift'_ ," Amad said, chuckling. "He _was_ swift, which I am glad for!"

Thorin only heard his new brother's name. The baby's face was pink and his wide blue eyes were staring at him. He had thick, black hair and one of his tiny hands was gripping the blanket.

For the first time in his life, Thorin fell in love.


	2. Thorin & Frerin & Dís

Nine exciting years after Frerin's birth, there was to be another child born to the Crown Prince and Princess of Erebor. Frerin curled next to Thorin, eyes wide as their mother's screams ripped through the air. 

"Did  _I_ make Amad scream like that?" he asked, casting his  eyes up at Thorin. Frerin hadn't inherited the Durin blue eyes, he'd inherited the hazel ones of their mother, the bright blue he'd had as a newborn darkening within several weeks. He shared the black hair of their adad with Thorin and resembled a puppy at the best of times.

"I can't remember," lied Thorin, smoothing some of his brother's hair back. "I was younger than you are now and wasn't paying much attention."

"Why is Amad screaming?"

"The baby has to pass through her and it hurts her."

Frerin looked perplexed. "Then why does she want another one?"

"Maybe she wants new company for us. Adad said that sometimes these things happen when you least expect it."

"Where _is_ Adad?"

"He's trying to convince the healers to let him in."

* * *

 

It was doubtful if the healers _did_ let Prince  Thráin in, but he soon entered his sons' nursery, looking as delighted as he had at Frerin's birth, if not, more so.

"You have a sister!" he announced.

 _"A girl?"_  Thorin and Frerin repeated. Both knew just how rare girls were. Everyone had thought that Thráin and Signý would be blessed with another son and that the two princes would be gifted a little brother.

"Yes, a little girl with fuzzy dark hair and a tiny button nose. She's a strong one, according to the healers."  Thráin smiled to himself and picked up Frerin, swinging him onto a hip and offered his free hand to Thorin, who took hold of it and walked with his father.

They could hear murmurings, of amazement, of surprise, of wonder and of joy as they drew closer to the room that held their mother. She looked paler than she had last time and her arms were trembling as she held her daughter, but she smiled brightly as she saw her family.

"Thráin," she said, gently moving their daughter towards him. "Show the boys."

Adad carefully took the baby, who was wrapped up neatly in silken cloth of azure blue edged in silver and crouched down beside his sons. They caught a glimpse of a pink little face, a pair of lips slightly opened, and suddenly her closed eyes flew open, shocking bright blue as Frerin's had been, and settled on them. She gurgled, as though pondering her brothers and then silenced, her blue eyes blinking at them.

"It was your turn to name her this time," Adad said to Amad.

"Mmm. What shall we call our little lady?" Signý paused, thinking about it. "Dís? My brothers nicknamed me that, you know."

Adad grinned. "Aye. That's a good idea, my beloved!"

Thorin noticed Frerin staring at their new sister - Dís - looking exactly how Thorin had felt the day his nadadith was born.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Jim Allan, according to Tolkien Gateway, suggested that the name 'Dís' may have come from the Nordic word for 'sister', and there are name dictionaries telling me that 'Dís' means 'lady' in Ancient Norse. So I've made it like it either means 'sister' or 'lady'. You can choose which!
> 
> Hope you liked it!xx


	3. Balin & Dwalin

Screams tore through the camp. Since Amad had fallen to her knees, clutching her enormous belly, there had been no words, no movement, just the sounds of Lady Fríja's screams of pain echoing around. Balin stayed close to his uncle.

"Where's Adad?" he asked after some time.

Soft blue eyes met his. "He's helping your mammy give birth."

"Why is Amad screaming?"

"It hurts to give birth." Gróin said, moments before the terrible screams tore through the air once more. 

Balin shivered. He stood and climbed over his uncle's lap to where his aunt sat beside him. He clambered onto her knees and stared first at her tummy and then up at her. "Are _you_ going to have a baby, Aunt Sannith?"

She grinned and gently poked his nose. "What are you trying to say?" she teased. "No, precious one, I'm not going to have a baby."

"But, why?"

"Give me a chance! I've only been married to your uncle for four years."

"That's ages." Balin said.

"Not really," Sannith lightly argued. "It's hard work to get pregnant."

"Is it _always_ the lady who gets pregnant?"

"Yes," Uncle said. "A male couldn't bear the pain. I was there the day you were born. Your mother gripped my hand so tightly that she broke it."

"An injury you bore with pride." Sannith said, gently tucking some of her nephew's hair behind his ears.

The screams had stopped. There was an eerie, cold silence. Both adults were looking toward the tent. A thin, pitiful mewling broke the air, but Balin couldn't hear his mother's voice. The flap at the tent's entrance opened and his father came out, holding a bundle wrapped in what looked like the blue silk of Lady Fríja's cloak. As Fundin knelt beside Balin, his now eldest noticed that his eyes were red-rimmed.

"Can I see Amad?"

Da closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "She's..she can't be seen right now, laddie." His large hands lowered the pale blue bundle, revealing a tiny litthe creature. Its skin was pink, dark, tufty hair was sticking up on its head and it opened its eyes, an oddly bright blue, and fixed them on him.

"You have a brother."

"Nadadith," Balin whispered, saying the word as though it was sacred. "He's so small."

"He'll grow."

"Will we be needing to stop at any Mannish settlements?" One of the adults asked. Balin didn't know which and he missed the nod of Fundin's head. He, himself, was too focused on the little babe who had just grabbed his finger and stolen his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long story short, I have several (hundred) Durin headcanons, one of which being that Dwalin and Gróin's mothers both died birthing them and, so, they wound up with wet-nurses from the race of Men and ended up closer to Man-sized than Dwarf-sized.


End file.
